i agree rub on waxes are better for boots etc but some footwear is a mix of leather and fabric and you wouldnt use it on them, which is why the nikwax is handy.
Having said that, I believe the Scarpa manta reversed sherpa / crosta leathers suggest using nikwax. But I dont want to divert from the main point of this thread.

In reply to owena: Never really had much success with any of them, despite cleaning out the washing machine and then tumble drying afterwards (in one case, I held off using a brand new machine until I'd done some jackets) - water beads a bit better, but not for very long.

Although that's about par for ANY product I've tried, not just Nikwax - they've generally been disappointing.

Tried doing some TNF down jackets with DownProof, but not really tested that yet - fabric held up to a bit of light drizzle, but hardly conclusive.

Trying a new one at the moment called Storm, which local outdoor shop thought was better than Nikwax, but too early to tell.

Waitrose sell it but I have in the past bought it from Tesco's too. Soap flakes are not quite as good as the flakes take quite a while to dissolve properly and are a bit harder to judge the right amount.

In reply to Tall Clare: I can't see it being of much use in the hills but if it works it would be ideal for my work fleece! I work outdoors in all weather and its not alway possible to where waterproofs.

> I think it's more that I'm baffled as to why anyone would *want* to proof fleece...

To make it water repellent...?

Which can mean that you don't need to wear a shell layer in mist or light drizzle (DWR'd Ultrafleece/K2/Karisma works quite well like this, as do microfibre fleeces). Or mean that it takes longer for the fleece to saturate, and quicker to dry when it does.

The only garment I wouldn't consider applying a DWR treatment to are wicking base layers. In an ideal layering system, a wicking base layer spreads sweat over its surface, and allows it to evaporate, and the resulting water vapour passes through the open structure of a fleece, and out through a breathable shell. Ideally, we don't want the fleece to wick and absorb lots of water, as that would be heavy, reduce the dead air space, and provide a reservoir of water that will chill you when you stop moving.

To get back to the original query, my experience of Nikwax TX10 wash-in was pretty poor until I did a thorough clean of my machine; 'soap' dispenser, water path, drum, etc. using elbow grease and a service wash*. A soap wash of something before I do a proofing wash clears the minor detergent residues from the liquid detergent in-load ball dispenser I now use; my soap tray and water path remain pristine.

* A recent major repair of my washing machine had me crack open the drum housing, and chip away unidentified accumulated residue. Hopefully, it's still pristine... Oddly, the outer faces of the drum had a waxy residue on them that could only be shifted with white spirit and more elbow grease. I thought it might be TX10 residue, but a query to Nikwax gave a prompt reply saying they'd found the same in their washing machine that is never used for proofing, and the thought that it might be a residue from washing products (conditioners, perhaps?).